August 26, 2008

Fake Beatles No. 17: Yellow Submarine Sandwich (or Meat the Beatles!)

Owing to the circumstances by which neither Paul McCartney nor the estate of John Lennon owns the publishing rights to most of their Beatles catalog, you can hear select stanzas from the illustrious Lennon-McCartney songbook touting products and services ranging from Target department stores to Luvs disposable diapers. Perhaps this willingness of the legal owners of the songs' publishing to shop them to every Tom, Dick and Harry Incorporated is the reason there's scant need for anyone to compose "original" Fake Beatles advertising jingles. Yet that has not deterred the fine purveyors of luncheon meat at the Mid-Atlantic-based convenience store chain Wawa (evidently not named after the George Harrison song from All Things Must Pass) one bit.

For its "Hoagiefest" promotion, which ran beginning June 9 through August 3rd (sorry, folks, if you were thinking of making the trip to Pennsylvania to partake in the celebration), Wawa opted to serve up its line of $2.99 Shorti sandwiches with a dash of Pepperisms. A trio of full-length songs extolling these half-length deli offerings, composed by Parry Gripp of SoCal pop-punk combo Nerf Herder, have all been rendered in convincing psychedelic Beatles style.

"At the Hoagiefest" bounces along gaily in its "With a Little Help From My Friends" manner. "Come On Down" evokes a singalong taking place in the galley of the Yellow Submarine. And, best of all, "Turkey So Fine," with its sitar seasonings, would be the envy of any Fake Beatles group currently plying its wares, and is guaranteed to stay in your head just as long as a Wawa hoagie does in your stomach. The high level of pastiche applied for this musical ad campaign makes you wonder if it was inspired by the song "Cheese and Onions," by Fake Beatles nonpareil the Rutles.

But don't just take this Fake Beatleologist's word for it. Sink your teeth into these (cold) cuts and digest them for a while. We won't even call you a sucker when you end up falling madly in love with an advertisement. [All songs MP3]

Was a rewrite of George's "Wah-Wah" ever in the cards? Maybe the execs at Wawa Inc. realized that "And I know how sweet life can be if I keep myself free of wah-wah, I dont need no wah-wah" wouldn't lure potential customers in for Shortis.

I grew up with a Nazz track called Loosen Up which had the line "...home of the tuna fish hoagie". Now, being from Australia I had no idea what a 'hoagie' was...until...I was in Philly in '92 and realised, oh, a 'bun', a 'roll', what some call a 'sub'. Now, being the record nerd, I was very thrilled to go into a local shop and ask for a Tuna Fish Hoagie. The joy I had eating that one!